I am courious as to the min amount diver decoys a person could get by with? I hunt alone and would like to try divers.I have enjoyed the post on here and was overwhelmed with the answers and support the people share. It is truley awsome to find a place where people help each other and support fellow hunters. I have always puddle duck hunted and have been very lucky but most puddle duck hunters I have run into are azz and jerks. They seem to think they own all the public hunt areas. Thanks for being so nice it is a plesant surprise

CoryI run about 5 to 6 dozen diver decoys but I would say you could get away with a few dozen if you do a couple 6 bird lines and a nice group of individuals to put out in front of those lines I hunt in MN on ok sized lakes and have had giid success with my spread which may be small in comparison to a person hunting on one of the great lakes or near an ocean but just scout the birds and make your spread match the birds in the area it has worked for me

Welcome to diver hunting!! We hunt divers on the river and use 7 decoys and usually get anywhere from 15-28 ducks between all of us on just those decoys. It probably depends on where your hunting and how.

Agreed with marsh set ups you can get away with less decoys, i started out with 18 mallards painted to ringnecks. try two circles of 9 each with room in middle and sides don't be afraid to let the birds work, ringers will pass three four times before pitching in. if they are looking and talking while going over spread they are interested. big water you need a good amount to draw intrest. my .02 cents good luck..jimmy shutt

Do they raft up in large groups or like been said, are you seeing 2,3,4 birds at a time? I go with small numbers, small setups around where I hunt. Seeing large groups, then a large spread with a good bit of white in the spread.

Saving the Poodles of America, one Alligator at a time!!

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

the amount of decoys you throw out also depends the spieces of divers are in your area or if your targeting certain divers. generally for goldeneye and bufflehead it doesnt take very many decoys, many people only throw 2 to 12 decoys for iether of them. canvasback redheads and bluebills tend to raft together. sometimes 3 or 4 dozen or thousands. when i hunt divers its over a mix of cans reds and bills with two buffies in the pocket by themselves. ive shot ducks over 2 dozen decoys and 9 dozen. all depends on what the ducks are doin and what your shootin.

if the site of 50+ cans 20 yards from the decoys doesnt get you goin, somethings not right.

Divers really dont care what kind of decoys you have out as long as its something for them to look at. When we go down further south on the Texas coast, we mainly hunt pin tails, gadwall, and teal but Red Heads and Blue Bills are just another easy limit to fill. Two weeks ago i hunted over a pin tail/teal spread of about 50 decoys and filled me and my brothers limit of blue bills (now 6 per person) in an hour. They were still tryin to land while we were pickin up decoys. Get their attention then hit a feed call and they suck in like magnets.